Major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by moving our economy for 160 years, bnsf, the engine that connects us. Working for solutions to prott water during Climate Change so people and nature can thrive together. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Foundation, committed to building a more just and peaceful world. And with the ongoing support of these institutions. This program was made possible by the corporation of public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Geoff welcome to the newshour. Former President Donald Trump is expected to appear in federal court in washington, d. C. , tomorrow, to enter a plea on charges that he illegally tried to overturn the results of the 2020 president ial election, and remain in power. Those alleged actions, which resulted in violent riots in the halls of congress, are the most grave accusations to date against mr. Trump. William brangham starts our coverage with a recap of the historic indictment. William despite having lost, the defendant was determined to remain in power. That is page one of special counsel jack smiths indictment, the United States of america vs. Donald trump, and it alleges that the former president and his coconspirators, unwilling to accept his loss to joe biden in the 2020 election, conspired and plotted to illegally hold onto power. This is our capitol william the allegations laid out, including the violent riots on january 6, revealed the hallmarks of a coup. The attack on our capitol, january 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of american democracy. William donald trump stands accused of four charges of trying to defraud the country, blocking and obstructing an official proceeding on january 6, and denying peoples voting rights. Over 45 pages, the special counsel lays out the foundation for those charges as based on actions taken, not just words alone. If you count the legal votes, i easily win. If you count the legal votes, they can try to steal the election from us. William it alleges trump knew his claims of voter fraud and a rigged election were lies, and documents repeated cases where trumps closest allies and advisors told him so. All i want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes votes. William it details a scheme to pressure state Election Officials to further his bogus claims of fraud, and disenfranchise millions of voters. The indictment alleges an effort to use the department of justice to falsely claim it had found voting irregularities. In a separate effort to encourage socalled fake electors in seven states to create the appearance of a nonexistent controversy around the election. We condemn the violence that took place here in the strongest possible terms. William it also details the pressure put on former Vice President mike pence to block the formal certification of the election on january 6th. And it alleges that when pence resisted, and violent riots broke out in and around the capitol, the former president and his allies redoubled their efforts to lie about the election. According to the indictment, donald trump was aided by six others. Theyre referenced as unnamed coconspirators, but theyre widely reported to include three of the president s former attorneys, rudy giuliani, john eastman, and sidney powell. Former highranking doj official jeffrey clark, and protrump attorney kenneth cheseboro. And the New York Times today reported Trump Campaign advisor Boris Epshteyn is likely the no charges have yet been brought sixth. Against any of the six. Since the attack on our capitol, the dept. Of justice has remained committed to ensuring accountability for those criminally responsible for what happened that day, and our investigation of other individuals continues. William last night, trump lashed out on social media, accusing the special counsel of trying to interfere with his 2024 campaign. And today, trumps republican allies on the hill, and even his 2024 opponents largely came to his defense. The reality is, a republican, a d. C. Jury would indict a ham sandwich and convict a ham sandwich if it was a republican ham sandwich. I think americans need to be able to remove cases out of d. C. William former Vice President mike pence, however, described the allegations as grave. Sadly, the president was surrounded by a group of crackpot lawyers that kept telling him what his itching ears wanted to hear. President trump asked me to put him over the constitution, but i chose the constitution. William while vacationing in delaware, President Biden ignored a shouted question about the indictment. Tomorrow, the former president will be arraigned and enter his plea in judge tanya chutkans courtroom. Appointed by barack obama, shes heard multiple cases against those who rioted on january 6th, and has issued tough sentences against them. For the pbs newshour, im william brangham. Geoff with that First Court Appearance tomorrow, we hear about how trumps legal team is planning his defense from trump attorney john lauro. We spoke a short time ago. Thank you for being with us. John good to be here. Geoff you described this as an attack on free speech and political advocacy. How do you defend the argument when the indictment makes clear that the defendant, donald trump, had a right like every american to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that there had been outcomedeterminative fraud . So the indictment centers on what he did allegedly in trying to subvert the election. John just the opposite. It attacks his ability to advocate for political position, covered in the first amendment. We saw a number of discrepancies after the 2020 election, with affidavits and sworn testimony as to regular what hes in the election process irregularities in the election process, and the rules changed without the state legislatures waiting in in the middle of an election cycle, so President Trump was entitled to advocate for a position, whether that meant going back to the state legislatures, engaging in Court Activity were fighting in court, or dealing with the issue from a political standpoint, all of that is protected speech. This is the first time in the history of the u. S. Where an existing administration, the Biden Administration, is criminalizing and indicting and going after a political opponent who previously occupied the office of presidency and is now political opponent. This is an event geoff abiding doj appointed the special counsel because of a conflict of interest and they dont operate within the daytoday supervision of the justice department. And the legislatures had already qualified their electors by middecember, december 14. According to the indictment, mr. Trump knew november 14 that he lost the election and was told that i hordes of republican john that is not true. Geoff it is spelled out in the indictment but make your point. John of course, you can either believe the indictment or the american system of justice where you can fight and indictment and prove otherwise or put the government to its burden of proof but in terms of special counsel, the special counsel reports to merrick garland, who has the ultimate determination as to whether or not to bring indictments. He is a member of the Biden Administration, so it is by the Biden Administration, not by special counsel who has no reporting ability to the Biden Administration. In terms of the qualification of electors, that is a significant issue because what you had where the electors initially qualified and then changes in the system and what President Trump asked for at the end was mike pence to pause the voting and allow the issue to go back to the states so that the state legislatures could ultimately decide on the qualification of the electors, a constitutional pathway that was provided for and identified by a constitutional scholar and mr. Trump followed that advice, which he was entitled to do. Geoff the former Vice President said donald trump was advised by a team of crackpot attorneys, the phrase used, and he said it was not just about causing the vote but rejecting votes, and that would have sent the entire system into chaos. We know from the indictment that the former Vice President mike pence emerges as a major figure. He provided, as spelled out in the indictment, notes that provide the underpinnings of so much of the evidence here. How will you contend with that evidence and potentially with her testimony, will you accuse him of lying . John first of all, i have to see the testimony in its totality but depends was also surrounded by lawyers, President Trump was surrounded by lawyers. Some had some disagreement about the constitutional pathway, but there is no doubt whatsoever that mr. Trump was advised by a very reputable scholar who gave him a pathway with respect to the constitutional options he had geoff john eastman, an unnamed coconspirator. John and the one option was option d, which was to simply pause the vote ultimately, and if you remember, in the speech, that is what President Trump asked for. There may have been other options discussed before that but the ultimate option asked was to pause the vote and really what we often have in the United States, which is a constitutional debate about issues, but those constitutional debates are never criminalized, except in the Biden Administration. Geoff lets return to the issue of free speech because the special counsel, as laid out in the indictment, said donald trump could have said, i won the election, it was rigged, there was fraud, joe biden did not win. If he had stopped there, that would have been in the realm of what was legal, but allegedly, he did not. It is alleged he had three major conspiracies. How do you refute that . John first of all, and indictment is a charge where it is returned by a grand jury and we are not allowed to present our case, so it is a onesided presentation. You can take the indictment as gospel, which you may want to, but that is on how the system works. We are entitled to our day in court to challenge the evidence and present our side of the story, which is mr. Trump absolutely, unconditionally believed he won the election and took steps to advocate for that position, and that is all protected speech. This sort of situation has never occurred in the history of the United States, where a president ial election has been criminalized because of the free speech rights exercise by a sitting president. Geoff do you believe you can get a fair trial with this judge, who was randomly assigned, an obama appointee . John we expect to get a fair proceeding. The problem is the district of columbia, as you know, it is a heavily weighted democratic city. I think it voted Something Like 95 for mr. Biden, so we are taking a close look at changing venue. We would like to see a more diverse and balanced and less biased jury pool. That will be an issue we raise with the judge right away. Geoff you suggested mr. Trump will try to seek a later date for the trial. How late . John we need to see all the evidence. The special counsel and Biden Administration has been investigating this for over 3. 5 years. To force any defendant, any american citizen to trial in a railroaded way is empathetic all to our system of justice. The defense is entitled to see the evidence, look at discovery, subpoena documents and witnesses. This is a massive case. This trial could last 6, 8, 9 months. We do not know. At a minimum, every defense team is entitled to look at the evidence, and we expect to do that. We will have a better idea of when we can be ready once we look at that evidence. The Biden Administration assigned 60 lawyers and investigators to this case. We do not have a team of that magnitude, and it will take time to look through the evidence. Geoff on that point, mr. Trump is facing three indictments in three different jurisdictions, potentially four, depending in fulton county, georgia, later this month. It is a demanding workload and insanely busy schedule. How is your team going to manage all of that, his legal team . How will you choreograph that . John we are up to the challenge, but the bottom line is that all of these lawsuits detract from what the American People want to hear about, which is important issues facing the country, rather than relitigating the 2020 campaign, which this indictment does, so it is a terrible distraction. It is being brought in the middle of an election cycle by a political opponent, and the American People can make their own judgment as to whether or not that is right. This case could be brought today after election day. Yet, we have a hurryup offense to bring it almost immediately after very damaging statements were made about President Biden and a scandal, envelope in his presidency right now. We are in uncharted constitutional territory and have never seen anything like this. President trump is entitled to his day in court, like every other american, and people get a very vigorous defense, consistent with professional ethics, and a defense that will be successful. Geoff there is another significant figure described in the indictment the on the former Vice President mike pence, former white house chief of staff mark meadows, who was not characterized as a coconspirator in the indictment. That suggests, to some, that he has cooperated with the special counsel, jaxon nap. How do you see it check smith jack smith. How do you see it . Do you think mark meadows cooperated . John cooperation is an interesting word. It often means you go in and talk to prosecutor, and that is sometimes termed cooperation. In the course of talking to a prosecutor, you can say many, many verbal things about the defense. We would welcome all the information from mr. Meadows. We will take a look at that. Simply because someone is cooperating, does not mean that they are simply mouthing the words of prosecutorial narrative. I need to be very clear, this is simply an indictment, which is an allegation. It is not mean that government has this level of proof. We are going to get our day in court and attack every single sentence an affidavit and prevail at the end of the trial. Geoff do you think the special trial will include things in the indictment he could not prove . John let me put it this way, i have practiced law for 40 years, ok . As a prosecutor and defense lawyer. There are certainly things in every single indictment that never get proven, and, believe it or not, after trial, defendants get acquitted. In this case, President Trump will get acquitted. Geoff is there any universe in which the former president with acceptably deal . John no, absolutely not. In 2016, he ran as a president ial candidate that would not quit, that would fight for the rights of the American People. He is doing that in connection with this case. I am not just representing the president of the United States in this case. I, representing every american who would like to speak freely and raise his or her voice, who wants to advocate for a political position. This is an instance where, unfortunately, that kind of free speech is under attack. It is under attack in universities, school boards, on social media. This is the ultimate form of censorship. If you do not go along with what the government believes happened in 2020, you are going to get indicted and prosecuted, and that is plain wrong. Geoff john lauro is an attorney for the former President Trump. Thank you for your time. Many of the details in yesterdays indictment were first revealed last year as part of the house january 6th committees probe of the attack on the u. S. Capitol. Joining me now is the former lead investigator for the committee, tim. Thank you for being back with us on the newshour. I would like to start with your assessment of john lauros assertion that this indictment is an attack on Donald Trumps free speech rights. Tim there is a difference between speech and conduct. The constitution does protect on americans right to free speech, even if the speech is hateful or false. If donald trump had just stood up and said the election was stolen alone, that would not be criminal. What is alleged here is conduct, not speech. He is alleged to have lied to the American People as part of a multipart intentional plan to prevent a joint session. It was not just the speech but what it was designed to do, the generation of the fake electoral certificate and the pressure on mike pence. The key thing about that speech to remember is that it was not informed by evidence. Allegations that he made about voter fraud were repetitively debunked, revetted and told directly rebutted and told directly to the president. That makes them lies and demonstrate specific intent that those lies motivate action. I agree with mr. Lauro that in america, every defendant is presumed innocent and gets his day in court. I am looking forward to the vigorous to the occasion of this, but the special counsel anticipated this and has evidence of conduct, not speech. That is why the indictment was brought. Geoff we heard john lauro City Government had three years to bring the case to investigate and now they would like to rush it to trial, what he said. He is not the only one who feels that way. There are democrats who agree with them for different reasons. What do you make of the timeline of this case . Tim yeah, look, i think the department of justice at the beginning was focused on what i call the bluecollar aspect of january 6, the writers themselves ri rioters themselves who were there. I think it took them a long time to get to the white collar part, this multipart plan, that has now been alleged to the indictment. I do not know what went on within the department of justice that informed that prioritization. I do think that the facts that the select committee was able to uncover that came largely from Trump Administration officials, republicans who wanted the president to win, but do the right thing when they were in a moment of principle, their willingness to come forward and talk to the select committee, and our revelation of those facts to america unquestionably was motivating because, again, facts are what matter, not lawyers but fact and the facts you are compelling, when the department of justice became aware of those facts, they were moved to act. Geoff you will lead investigator for the january 6 committee. That work product created a roadmap in many ways for the january 6 or rather the special counsel january 6 investigation. When you read the indictment, what strikes you as intensely familiar . And what also strikes u. S. . As painting a fuller strikes you as new, as painting a fuller picture as to what transpired leading up to the insurrection . Tim the vast majority is familiar. It sounded similar to vice chair cheneys Opening Statement at our first hearing, the committees first hearing, last year. That was the hearing in which she said this was an intentional multipart plan to disrupt the joint session, and she checked off pressure on state officials and to change personnel justice, and pressure on the Vice President , and launching a violent mob at the capitol. This is what the indictment lays out. The facts have not been hidden or a mystery. Theres not much new in the indictment other than a few direct communications between Vice President pence and President Trump. You do not have an opportunity to get that from the Vice President. When you essentially that the Vice President had conveyed his position to the president with the color and words. I think new, direct information was provided that was not provided before because of claims of executive privilege, but the core conduct was described in detail by the course of the select committee process. Geoff we have one minute left and i would like to ask more about the testimony by the former Vice President. How did what he shared and witness testimony and via contemporaneous notes prepare the special counsel investigation beyond what your committee was able to do . Tim i do not know that it propelled it but it provided more direct evidence of a fact about which we had indirect evidence, so we interviewed mark short, the Vice President s chief of staff. I remember specifically asking mr. Short, did the Vice President can be to President Trump his position about the limitations on his authority at the joint session . He said yes many times, so we were aware that that was the position the Vice President took and it was conveyed to the president. Now mike pence is talking about the words used. That is important and more reliable direct evidence that the secondhand account we got. Geoff thank you for your insights. Tim thank you for having me. Stephanie here are the latest headlines. A federal jury recommended the Death Penalty for robert bowers, the gunman who killed eleven people at a pittsburgh synagogue. Bowers opened fire at the tree of life synagogue in 2018. It was the deadliest antisemitic attack in u. S. History, and prosecutors said today, the courts tried to deliver justice. While todays verdict may mean many things to people, it cannot change what happened on october 20 7, 2018. It cannot bring back any of the 11 victims. No verdict can set things right or restore what was lost that morning. Stephanie the presiding judge will hear from victims families tomorrow before formally imposing the death sentence. New findings on julys extreme heat point to a new link to manmade global warming. The science nonprofit Climate Central says it was hotter than normal for 80 of the worlds population at least one day during the month. It says Climate Change was responsible. Hardest hit were some two billion people in tropical and desert regions who endured extreme heat daily. The findings are based on a study of 4700 cities. In china, beijing and the surrounding region are awash in severe flooding after days of the heaviest rain in 140 years. A typhoon dumped 29 inches on the city since saturday. The flooding is blamed for 21 deaths and rescue efforts are continuing with the military delivering aid by helicopter. Outside the city, roads are washed out and crops destroyed. This has affected our family. People where i am from grow corn and they were hit by the disaster. This is a failure of harvest. There is nothing we can do. It is a natural disaster. Stephanie meantime, another typhoon battered okinawa and other japanese islands today and headed for china. And, in south korea, an ongoing heatwave pushed a weather warning to its highest level, with at least 22 People Killed 23 People Killed there since may. The u. S. State Department Says the American Embassy in niger will remain open, despite the military coup there. Late today, the department announced nonemergency Embassy Personnel and their families will be evacuated b. Ut officials evacuated. Only Emergency Assistance to those in the country will be provided. The first french evacuation flights landed in paris today, and evacuees formed long lines. In ukraine, russian attack drones badly damaged a vital port today in another blow to grain shipments. The port of izmail sits on the new river, alo the border with romania. Danube river, along the border with romania, part of a key route for the grain trade. After the attack, crews worked to dowels major fires. Its the latest such attack since russia ended a deal allowing grain traffic through the black sea. Pope francis has arrived in portugal and rebuked the nations Roman Catholic clergy after a damning report on sexual abuse of minors. The pope said the church must purify itself and listen to victims. He arrived earlier at the president ial palace in lisbon, to attend the first catholic world youth day since the pandemic. Its his first major trip since intestinal surgery in june. Still to come on the newshour, Judy Woodruff explores the connection between the decline in local newspapers and the nations political divides. And a look at the lasting influence of the late irish singersongwriter Sinead Oconnor. This is the pbs, from weta studios in washington, and from the west, from the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. Geoff over the past few decades, more than newspapers 2000 across the country have closed, leaving many communities without a reliable source of local information. Researchers say this crisis in journalism, driven by changes in technology, is fueling the countrys political divisions. Judy woodruff recently visited one community in north texas, as part of her ongoing series, america at a crossroads. Judy tucked away in the texas panhandle, in an isolated pocket of the country long dominated by ranching, drilling, and the railroad, is the city of canadian, population 2300. But since march of this year, a longtime picture of this community, something residents say had bound them together through good times and bad, has been missing. Its just got a kind of a hole in it, you know, a vacancy right now. I just dont know whos going to be sharing all of the champions and the good news in our community. Its almost like a death in the family. We dont talk about it a lot. We just go, oh, i cant believe we dont have it. Judy earlier this year, the citys weekly newspaper, the canadian record, stopped printing. These days its bracket sits empty, but for decades, laurie brown would put up a flag outside her office each thursday to let the town know that the newest edition was available. The record was a Family Affair that became her lifes work, and in its pages brown documented the city council, school and Hospital Board meetings, the impacts of droughts and wildfires, the babies born, Football Games won, and residents lost. She lobbied for the construction of a new assisted living center, mesa view for the installation of a blinking stop sign at a threeway highway intersection south of town that had seen too many fatal accidents. I tell people weve sometimes helped good things happen and we so often stopped bad things from and its not because were so powerful, its because information is powerful. And were making sure the community, the people who care about these things, know about them. We had probably five or six pages of classifieds. Theyre pretty much down to one , one and a half now. Judy yet after so many years of holding the paper together, as classified ad purchases dwindled, and reporters left and were not replaced, earlier this year brown made the difficult decision to suspend publication. We were already working on sort of a shoestring. And i just didnt see how i could do it. I needed a break, and it was the hardest decision ive ever made. And i still lie awake at night wondering whether it was a good decision or not. Judy whats happened to the record here in canadian is not unique. Across the country, over the past 2 decades, more than 2200 weekly newspapers have closed down, and tens of thousands of reporters have been laid off. And researchers say thats not only having profound impacts on the practice of journalism, but on the countrys civic health. Local news is something that reminds people of what they have in common, both their challenges and their shared identities, culture, community. Judy joanna dunaway is a and researcher at Syracuse Universitys institute for democracy, journalism and citizenship. She says the broad decline of local newspapers nationally, driven largely by plummeting revenue, and advertising moving online, contributed to the rising polarization seen across the country. National news has many benefits. It tends to frame politics in america through the lens of major conflicts between the two parties. For those americans or those citizens who are only watching the national news, they often only get this sort of gameframe style coverage that its almost like sports reporting with democrats on one side and republicans on the other. Judy facing a growing showdown with republicans over americas ability to pay off its debt, President Biden speaking to Union Members and ireland. Carthy members in maryland. Mccarthy is putting the blame on joe biden. We are both old enough to remember when republicans were going after democrats for defund the police. One of the things local news does is reminds people that, oh, that person, they may be of the other party, but theyre facing the same challenge that im facing. We have always reported the news that is most important to the people who live here. Judy in 2017, documentary filmmaker Heather Courtney began following laurie brown as she covered this largely rural, conservative community that voted overwhelming for President Trump in 2016 and again in 2020. What happens if nobody is doing this . Judy highlighting her complex relationship with her fellow canadians, who relied on brown and her reporting even as they often disagreed with her editorials. They did not want me to report that biden won that election. By god, the Electoral College voted and joe biden won the election, he is going to be our president , and i am going to make sure it is in the newspaper. She says in the film that her politics dont match the politics of this town. But at the same time, the people here are very still very much supportive of the paper. And theyll go and theyll talk to laurie about whatever they might disagree about in her editorial, and i think that thats something that has broken down in most places around the country. If we have to do a surgery, we do it here. Judy steve rader is a secondgeneration rancher who lives 18 miles outside of canadian, in the adjoining county. This is rose. Judy for him, the record was a lifeline to the community, and to his past, and its loss has been especially hard. Are paper spoiled us. They did so much work and it was so colorful and beautiful and they celebrated our successes and are tough times our tough times. Judy feels personal. Oh yeah. That paper was part of our life. People from hundreds of miles away came and supported our community. Judy in 2017, a wildfire burned more than acres, including 12 300,000 sections of grass on raders ranch, four trailers, equipment, and 85 cattle. But if the paper hadnt told about it, nobody would have known. People responded. People we do not even know from all over the country sent us hay and feed. A lady from new mexico sent us ten cows to replace the ones that had died. And the paper, not that we were whining or needing attention, but it brought it to the forefront and documented what happened. Judy laurie, the editor, who put her own opinions as editor in the paper. Did you always agree with what she was writing . No, no, but she always made me think. I hate to say it, judy, but her family opposed the vietnam war in the 1970s. And they received a lot of flak over that. And looking back, i think they were totally right. We need to have other opinions. That is the strength of america. Thank god for that. I dont want to live in a place that has echo chambers everywhere, where everyone thinks the same. Judy wendie cook is the executive director of the citadelle art museum, a collection housed in a former Baptist Church downtown. She moved here from dallas years ago with her husband, who grew up in canadian. In addition to the museum, she works as an interior designer, and for the past six years, has served on the city council. Without the paper, she worries that a level of accountability in local government will be lost. [00 17 50]i have a concern i have a concern about who is telling the critical pieces of information. The city is facing a bond election. Who is giving the factual information about how that bond election is coming to to be what that bond election is going to fund . Right now, without the canadian record, i fear that our voter information is coming from our stuffed mailboxes, from candidates or from pacs, who by their very nature are providing biased material for our community. Right now, if theres a name that pops up on a ballot for one of the elections and you do not know them, you really dont have no means of finding out, who are they . Where do they come from . Are they married . Do they have kids . Judy john julian operates a waterwell Construction Business in town and he agrees with wendie cook. It kind of leaves me at a 5050 flip of a coin, no vote do i vote yes or no for them if you dont know . And i dont like to be in that position if i am going to make a vote. I want it to be an informed, educated vote. People dont feel comfortable voting when they know virtually nothing about the people running for office. Judy johanna dunaway, of syracuse university, says that in addition to the loss of shared identity, when a local news source closes, there are a number of other potential impacts, including more corruption and irresponsible spending, more straight ticket voting, less competitive elections and lower turnout. And then it is more of a cycle. The legislators or City Council People or Mayoral Office folks realize this, and so why would they cater to the people who arent going to vote for them . So then theyre only sort of behaving in lockstep with the preferences of the people who do vote. And those are the citizens who tend to have very strong partisan preferences and tend to have the most extreme policy preferences. And so then you get more polarizing behavior on the part of both the voters and those holding office. Judy do you think that our country can stay strong, that our democracy can stay strong well into the future with, frankly, you know, hollowed out local journalism . I worry that it cannot because i worry that we are more susceptible to this kind of tribal attitude and behavior that sometimes political elites at the National Level on both sides, they try to use that to sort of for their own strategic advantage for elections or for what have you. It is usually shortterm, and they are not doing it with evil intent. They are doing it to stay in office and make it policy, but when the news is reminding us of claims made on both sides of the National Level, i think it makes those claims worse. Those problems worse. Judy back in canadian, laurie brown continues to post occasional stories and updates on the canadian records website and facebook page, which has grown since the paper stopped publishing. But its a shell of what the paper was. Were still sort of, you know, checking that pulse, i think, trying to decide whats the best way to communicate and how to do it. That said, you know, its not a great revenue model and ive got people working here who arent getting paychecks right now, so im not getting a paycheck. Judy no paycheck. Thats not sustainable. Not sustainable. Its just where i have good people who work with me and they care as much about this newspaper as i do and this community. Look at this. Youre writing stories about peoples lives that they will remember forever. Judy brown says she hopes to find a new owner of the paper. Someone to continue her familys legacy, telling the important stories of this place and its people. Information is the key to our democracy. Fax. Facts. Truth. Good information. And also just that conversation that you have that that we, i think, enable. It is essential. And so i worry all the time about it. I want deeply to continue the life of the canadian record. I just am not sure how to do it. Judy in a coming story, well look at moves to help address the crisis in local news and whether they can fill the gap. For the pbs newshour, im Judy Woodruff in canadian, texas. Geoff irish singersongwriter Sinead Oconnors death last week at 56 came as a shock to fans worldwide. In the days since, an outpouring of love from fans and local artists painted a fuller picture of oconnors legacy on music and on irish culture and politics. Jeffrey brown looks at oconnors impact for our arts and culture series, canvas. Jeffrey she was known for her powerful voice and outspoken stances. And it began with music. Nothing compares jeffrey Sinead Oconnors 1990 rendition of princes nothing compares 2 u became a number one hit and the album it appeared on, i do not want what i havent got won the 1991 grammy award for best alternative music performance. Oconnor boycotted that award ceremony, criticizing its commercialism. But that was nothing compared to the uproar in 1992 after she ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul ii during her appearance on fight the real enemy. Jeffrey saturday night live, to criticize child abuse in the church. In 2018, oconnor publicly announced her conversion to islam. Since her death, fellow musicians have paid tribute to oconnor through her music. Alanis morissette sang the 1987 single madinka with the foo fighters over the weekend. And Brandi Carlile sang nothing compares 2 u at a pink concert. Jeffrey meanwhile, oconnor continues to mourned in her home country of ireland, where the mayor of dublin said he hopes to stage a tribute concert soon. And joining me now is una malali, she is a columnist for the irish times in dublin. Thank you for joining us. So the reaction, especially in ireland, clearly goes beyond the music. How do you explain what youve seen since Sinead Oconnors death . Its quite hard to explain what has been happening in ireland. The loss is being felt really profoundly. For people in ireland, i think Sinead Oconnor goes beyond music, as you say. Shes more of a cultural figure. She looms very large in the irish psyche in terms of her activism, her politics, her actions. And so the loss is being felt really profoundly. Its almost as though its a large political figure or even a spiritual figure whos been lost. So there have been vigils and gatherings and people are extraordinarily upset. I dont think i could really think of another person that this has happened with in my lifetime anyway. Jeffrey you have written that in ireland she was a revolutionary figure. She was also a very controversial figure. What did you mean by revolutionary . I think because of the context that she came from, particularly in the 1980s and in ireland, when the moral 1990s authority of the Catholic Church was still quite strong, she really preempted an awful lot of that collapse with her actions on saturday night live and with her constant attempts to highlight issues of child abuse and childhood trauma. She equated the entire social psyche of ireland to that of an abused child and was trying to somehow remedy that through asking to be listened to, to speaking out against these various spiritual ills and also through her music. So in that way, she inspired an awful lot of people as well, who didnt necessarily have the bravery in quite an Oppressive Society to speak out against various authorities and not be afraid to get in trouble. And she repeatedly questioned this lever of shame that is constantly pulled in Irish Society and sought to unseat that or at least make it disjointed. So that those kinds of actions were and remain revolutionary. And an awful lot has changed that in Irish Society that has really vindicated her. Jeffrey and that outcry that hit, the controversy, did she ever get past it . Did people, the ones who were upset with her, did they forgive her . Im not sure she was asking for their forgiveness. I think she was asking for more of a Seismic Shift in our society. Her career continued very successfully in ireland and europe. Her albums were lauded. Her tours were always sold out. She was very highly regarded. Her memoir in 2021 was a best seller here. There was a documentary out about her last year that packed cinemas. So the, that kind of, um, torpedoing of her career really only occurred. Really only occurred in america for different cultural reasons with regards to america being a more puritanical place, i guess, and more has a tendency to kind of go the full length with controversies and really silence people in that way. The irish context was quite different because she was speaking to so many people who ultimately supported her point of view. Jeffrey what about the music and especially her voice . I mean, what, when you think about it, what so captured you and so many others . I think theres so many Different Things about her voice and her music. I mean, her voice is singular. Anita baker once described it as cavernous and i think thats a really good description. She sung in her own accent at a time when a lot of irish rock and pop acts gravitated towards this midatlantic twang. There was an awful lot about ireland and specifically about dublin and her songs, so she was capturing not just the emotional landscape, but the literal landscape in her music as well. And that voice is undeniable. She had that. With what she was channeling was something really authentic. I think its her creative integrity that really remains. Jeffrey i understand you met and you interviewed her a number of several times. What was she like in that context and did you see changes over the years . Ive always found her to be extraordinarily sweet, a very down to earth, chilled out, very cool, very, very funny person, massive sense of humor, but also fragile, you know, and she was very vocal about her own struggles with Mental Health because of the context that she came from, because of the things she experienced throughout her life and indeed throughout her career. Jeffrey you have written about now there being a deep collective grief, you called it in ireland. How would you assess her legacy . What do you think it will be . I think thats something people are struggling with because i think that theres a tendency to isolate cultural figures and icons as if theyre people from afar. I think what people are kind of trying to grapple with is how do we diffuse her stance and the things she stood for within ourselves . Um, she would, didnt just demand to be heard, but to be listened to. And i think that theres an awful lot that artists in particular, but also women, also the lgbtq community, all of the people who felt like they didnt necessarily fit in or were living in opposition to society. How can you actually create your own pathway and how can you kind of get support for that and not be ostracized or criticized . I think people are thinking deeply about those lessons that she gave. Particularly because of how ireland has changed so much. Jeffrey the life and legacy of Sinead Oconnor. Uno malali of the irish times. Thank you very much. Thank you. Geoff brandon kazenmaddox is an artist, filmmaker, acrobat, and an advocate for deaf artists on the stage, screen, and beyond. Tonight, kazenmaddox shares their brief but spectacular take on blending the worlds of art, asl, and accessibility. I am a grandchild of deaf adults or a goda, which means that my first language is asl, sign language. I was raised in a family of deaf and signing people. For me, my hands are storytellers and my words are just along for the ride. So that means that i primarily think in asl, in sign language, and i make sure that my hands follow what the concepts and images and memories and feelings that my heart and that my mind are expressing. [clap] growing up, my family would always eat around the dinner table. There was such an amazing mixture of communication. And i grew up watching all of that and participating in it. My grandparents would express themselves in sign language. If we brought friends and other relatives to the table, we wanted to make sure that they understood the conversation also. I bring that into my work as an artist, and i, the reason why i talk and sign is because i want everyone to understand everything im saying. When i was about 16, i was driving with my grandma and in the deaf community, we have, we turn on the dome light, um, at night because we have to be able to see each other sign. When i first saw in the rearview mirror, the red and blue lights, i immediately was very afraid. I had to make sure to keep myself and my grandma safe at that moment. And sign language is not always something that people are accustomed to. So the cultural facilitation and linguistic facilitation was pivotal at that moment. Im a cofounder of a Company Called up until now collective. We develop and produce new multidisciplinary work that focuses on intimacy, empathy, and connection, and centers our work on stories that have been traditionally left out of our mainstream narrative. Our mission is to challenge the status quo and build new structures for creating art. When someone who signs or a deaf person or someone in a wheelchair has everything that they need to be on stage and shine, thats my goal with the work that i do. My name is Brandon Kazen Maddox and this is my brief, but spectacular take on blending the worlds of art, asl and accessibility. Geoff you can watch more brief but spectacular videos online at pbs. Org newshour bring. brief. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im geoff bennett. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been supported by the ongoing support of these institutions and wrens of the newshour, and hooting jim and bill and kathy and paul anderson. The ford foundation, working with visionaries on the outlines of social change worldwide. Funding for america at our crossroads was provided by and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. This is pbs newshour west, from weta studios in washington, and from our bureau at the walter Arkwright School of journalism at Arizona State university Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. Introducing a technolocal achievement so advanced. It rivals the moon landing. Wow ok. Rude. Thats one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind. Buongiorno. Im lidia bastianich, and teaching you about italian food has always been my passion. It has always been about cooking together and building your confidence in the kitchen. Im showing off. Does this look like a good meal . So, make it. For me, food is about gathering around the table to enjoy loved ones, share a meal, and make memories. 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